


OH-TEN GAIDEN 2: Kill for Justice

by DoggieCornerW



Category: Naruto
Genre: Swords
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 21:33:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30045048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoggieCornerW/pseuds/DoggieCornerW
Summary: Japanese: 皇天外伝2正義のための殺A short side story from my canceled OHTEN Naruto story with Uchiha Sasuke and a small look in the magnifying glass on what caused the Massacre. Seeking answers, his footsteps lead to Hidden Leaf's Hero monument where he meets with one of his former academy classmates.
Kudos: 1





	OH-TEN GAIDEN 2: Kill for Justice

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Oh-Ten: Era of High Heaven (皇天の変)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1121182) by [DoggieCornerW](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoggieCornerW/pseuds/DoggieCornerW). 



> Today's names and Japanese terms:  
> Uchiha Sasuke (打羽 佐助)  
> Gakishiro (餓鬼城): Castle of Gaki (hungry ghosts). A nickname for the Academy.
> 
> Akechi Gakuto (明智 岳斗)  
> Akechi Rokuro (明智 六郎) 
> 
> Bizen Osafune (備前長船) - A popular name to describe the swords manufactured by the Osafune school. Names like Mitsutada and Nagamitsu were swordssmiths. The Daihannya Nagamitsu is a national treasure in Japan.
> 
> Shinogi zukuri (鎬造り)  
> Yokote (横手)

From his hiding spot behind a tree trunk, Sasuke Uchiha (打羽 佐助) was looking curiously in a graveyard. In Konoha, it was a location well known for its prism-shaped monument. It could've been confused as a cenotaph if it weren't surrounded by gravestone plaques, and standing next to that monument was one of Sasuke's former Academy classmates. When he left the _Gakishiro_ (餓鬼城), the Academy's nickname for the "castle hold for brats", the young Uchiha paid little mind to the others. However, some children had distinct qualities such as their hair or the dolts they tagged along with.

The distance made the small figure in front of the monument a blot within a forsaken grassy field. However, the boy stood out from his cherry red hair. What reason piqued Sasuke's curiosity? Moving closer, he could hear the child's sobs.

"One day brother," the boy said, rubbing his arm over his eyes. "I'll be strong just like you." Was he in so much grief that he could not hear the approaching footsteps? Gakuto Akechi's (明智 岳斗) jaw jumped open when Sasuke suddenly appeared next to him to leer at the stone. Few seconds later, the Uchiha's eyes widened. Something there made him suddenly asked a question.

"Hey, who are these two Akechi on the stone?" His voice was dry; to ask so suddenly, it made Gakuto hesitant with worry.

"Uh…it's my father and brother."

At the answer, Sasuke's eyebrow buckled. "You always talked about your brother."

"Yeah, my brother Rokuro." Gakuto crouched a bit and pointed at finger at the two Kanji that spelled out the name. "'Roku' is the same as the number 'six' and 'ro' is what we call our sons." He didn't mind having such an easy name because he always told me that the second character showed that he was a man. He was my only brother and he died when I was younger. I'll never forget." The boy was tickled with amusement, and even among the resting dead, he smiled.

 _Not his father, but his brother?!_ Akechi Rokuro (明智 六郎) was the name Sasuke glared upon the stone. It was definitely the same name he saw on the scroll he was given about the " _Hachinitai_ " (eight ninja). When he read the surname "Akechi", he immediately recognized it and sought for the red-haired boy for some hints. He eventually found him at the gravesite and hoped to find clues to the identity of his prey. He subdued his exasperation, to use for the right moment for when he met the man, to channel it into bloodlust; now, it would all be routed into dissatisfaction.

 _He is dead? Damn it_! Sasuke's hand squeezed into a fist and trembled.

"Um, are your family here too?" asked Gakuto. The Uchiha said nothing. Heroes under the Uchiha name were here, names such as Obito and Shisui, but the Konoha adults thought it was more suitable to use the former Uchiha home as a burial site- for the ones who fell at the infamous Massacre.

"You have no other brother?" Sasuke moved his head away, sounding dreary.

"No. It was only Roku and I. W-why are you asking?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Sasuke said and began to walk away, lost in his head. _That Gakuto! The one he keeps revering! His brother—he was one of them and now he's dead!_

Watching Sasuke leave, Gakuto tilted his head in thought—his mother told him there was a terrible tragedy that befell on the village, and they both often cited the Uchiha Massacre as a precursor of bad fortune. Since around that time, Rokuro returned also home deceased in a bundle of straw. He was not told that Sasuke's own brother took part in that awful event.

"Hey hey!"

For some reason, Sasuke stopped. He knew that Gakuto hung around with his idiot teammate Uzumaki, and with the patience of a saint. With that fact, it could be possible that they were the same breed of child. That would be enough reason for him to keep walking, even when Gaku called for his attention, but he didn't? A bizarre thought just occurred - maybe he could kill Gakuto out of compensation, but was he that vile of a monster?

"Look! It's my sword," Gakuto said. Both hands leaned down and took up the sheathed sword tucked in his waist sash. In their country, it was a short _kodachi_ or small blade; it could also be called a baby sword, but it was among the hands of even samurai.

"Before he died, my brother kept me up with cultural appraisals such as weapons and antiques. Not sure why he was into that."

"Why are you telling me this nonsense?" Sasuke scolded coolly. Now he really wondered why he waited; he didn't even turn to look at the sword.

"I'm sure everything has a valuable meaning. My sword's name is Bizen Osafune ( 備前長船). Osafune was a popular name in bladesmithing; when we hear "Bizen", or Ichimonji or Ukai, it's a great sword, but I wonder if it's a real Bizen. I love it, but is it worth that much? When people call it 'Bizen', does it mean that it's easy to kill people?"

This time, the Uchiha spun around and made eye contact. He clearly saw the sheath in Gaku's hands , and was frozen from an inconsistent vision. A murder weapon, held by a boy inhibited and suffused by gentleness, was both puzzling and intriguing.

"Are you worried that you will kill someone?" Sasuke's abrupt question left Gakuto speechless.

"Don't be naïve," The Uchiha said in a jagged tone. "If you want to be a ninja, you have to kill."

"I hear that all the time, especially from mom and Kanno." Gaku's eyes swerved away in scorn. He was truly young, but not entirely naïve; maybe the term was too strong for his youthful heart and he was easily shaken. From his mother, he heard stories of when she met with drifters who killed and raped the homeless outside. The term kill (殺), the terms " _setsu_ " and " _korosu_ " used two Kanji combined to mean "place in a tree bark coffin" or "punish with wood". To reduce to nothing. In other words, it was negative and vile. His teammate Kanno was the same as Sasuke, but would express a vile truth with simplicity while smiling. "Ninja kill, the weak and treacherous perish, it's the only way to lead," he would say with absolutism.

"If I have to kill," Gaku said, "I like for it to be a good reason."

Sasuke's teeth gritted. Something shook his body; he couldn't determine if he was bit irritated by Gakuto's kindness or that he was still too naïve. Combine that with that fact that he was Rokuro's little brother. But, there was also the thought that Sasuke's own brother Itachi killed with ease; killed his mother, father, and family with ease, whether they were woman or children. Maybe the conversation was distracting him from his goal. It made him question the importance of what the adults deterred him to do – was killing Itachi and seven others 'the right thing to do?'

"So, you want to kill for justice."

"I—" Gaku paused in thought. "Yeah."

"Beliefs mean a lot. But to keep them,, you can't hesitate making a decision." Sasuke paused a moment after the blunt fact before following up. "That Bizen—is it the common blade shape?"

" _Shinogi zukuri_ (鎬造り; ridge style) type? Yeah."

"Then shut up. It's a sword. Does it have the mark point below the tip?"

"The _yokote_ (横手; the side _)_? No."

"Then shut up. That means you're good for slicing. Maybe when you're older, you'll get a common sword for all forms of blade fighting."

Gakuto pulled out his sword and held it in both hands; from hand to tip, absent of a groove that dissected the sword from the tip, Gaku's Bizen was well over fifty centi. There was a cloudy etch running across the blade.

"Can you imagine carrying a sword as a long as you? Why don't you wait? You already got a great sword for a brat."

"Mom said it's real because of the blurry pattern on it." Gakuto said, sheathing the sword.

"There, you see? It's meant to be used the way it's supposed to and it was given to you." Sasuke took steps forward and looked straight into Gaku's eyes with an expressionless stare. With such dark eyes, Sasuke looked cold as the tempered steel. Steel of determination.

"I got news for you - you won't always be liked. I'm gonna do what I'm supposed to." He left it at that; seeing fear in Gakuto's eyes, Sasuke wanted to put a heavier sac of pressure on the kid. Sasuke almost wanted to speak to truth, even if the kid ran back and snitched to his mother. The urge scraped at the back of his head to be let out: " _Your brother killed my family!_ " He almost wanted to see the face Gaku would make; would Gakuto be quite confused to know why a Konoha ninja would kill other Konoha ninja? Instead, Sasuke decided to twist the words.

"So, quick question – what if your mother was killed by anyone in this village."

"Sasuke?" Even though Sasuke obscured what he was getting at, the fear was settling in. It clouded any idea in Gakuto to predict that Roku was a part of the Uchiha's life.

"Or what if your brother killed your mom? Out of cold blood?" As he added on, the Uchiha's calmness seemed to simmer, "and don't you _dare_ ask me why I'm asking this."

"I—" Gakuto wanted to grab his head and escape the interrogation. Why would Sasuke, out of all the kids from the Academy— and he barely associated with Sasuke because of his withdrawn and uptight attitude—ask him such questions? However, he gulped down his fear, breathed through his nose and made an attempt.

"My brother…wouldn't do that! But if he did, I would punish him for lacking honor and love. He would have to answer."

"Good. Now, what if he killed your mom because he was selfish or angry? Or what if someone told him to?"

Gakuto's eyes furrowed. "If he was angry, he would be very wrong. To kill his family – I would want to know everything behind it. If someone told him, that someone better have a good reason."

Sasuke took a step back and turned away. "What if it wasn't a good reason?"

"My brother is not a good person and neither is the person who told him to do it."

"Good. I agree." Sasuke began to walk away, leaving Gakuto and all the pressure he put on the red-haired boy. Sasuke could hear a humongous breath from the sigh of relief paces away; Gakuto couldn't believe he had to say that. In fact, when he came home to his mother, he actually asked her the question. "Did she kill children?" which caused her to nearly choke on her Ryokucha tea. After a moment to recover, she spoke honestly about her career. There was one time where the environment challenged her maternal instincts; youth were trained to follow orders even if it meant to the death, and she understood enough.

It was like a whiff of fresh air in the Spring morning; Sasuke felt more determined to reach his goal and to kill the brother that lacked sincerity.

On a later day, Sasuke approached the little Akechi again, and asked to duel against the Bizen. Hesitating, Gakuto was perplexed at first; the solemn darkness in Sasuke's eyes reflected an inexplicable anger, targeting a boy that never crossed him. The eyes of a grudge, or something that insulting the Uchiha's pride. Gakuto never knew the meaning, that profound shadow, and only saw it as a challenge. He said that he would "accept it" and prompted him to stare down the Uchiha with equal amount of courage.

"You won't always have your brother's spirit, or pride, to admire and to fight for. In the end, only you will matter, won't it?" Sasuke would never openly reveal that his own brother abandoned him, killed his family, or even loved him. He would not admit that even he himself was confused inside.


End file.
